Politics

Bloomberg New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has again raised concerns about China’s ambitions in the Pacific, repeating her comment that Beijing “has become increasingly assertive in our region.” “In recent times, there has been growing interest in the Pacific,” Ardern said in a speech at Chatham House in London on Friday. “The foreign policy position of some of the ...

  Bloomberg Members of the House committee investigating the US Capitol attack by supporters of Donald Trump promised further revelations, after an ex-White House staffer’s portrayed the former president’s outbursts of rage. “We are following additional leads,” Representative Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “I think those leads will lead to new testimony.” ...

Bloomberg Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised a “new dawn” in relations with France after arriving in Paris for a meeting to repair relations damaged over the unexpected cancellation of a billion-dollar submarine contract in 2021. Outside the Elysee palace, the premier was greeted by President Emmanuel Macron who said he too wanted to “speak about the future” and doesn’t ...

Bloomberg China has responded to New Zealand leader Jacinda Ardern’s warning at the Nato summit that Beijing is becoming increasingly assertive and more willing to challenge international norms. “We have taken note of the relevant comment made by the New Zealand side at the Nato session, which includes some misguided accusations against China,” a spokesperson at the Chinese Embassy in Wellington said in a statement on its website dated June 30. The prime minister’s comments are “wrong” and “regrettable,” the statement said. “It is obvious that such comment is not helpful for deepening mutual trust between the two countries, or for the efforts made by the two countries to keep our bilateral relations on the right track,” the ...

  Bloomberg Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban appeared to strike a milder tone regarding Europe’s policy on Ukraine, all the while proceeding with a controversial nuclear project backed by Russia. Hungary won’t keep standing in the way of European Union sanctions except on vital matters of energy policy, he told public radio in an interview. While Budapest will still oppose ...

Bloomberg Representatives of indigenous organizations and Ecuador’s embattled government signed an agreement to end more than two weeks of nationwide protests over fuel prices and the high cost of living. Mediated by the Catholic Bishops Conference, the government of President Guillermo Lasso agreed to increase subsidies at the pump. With other measures pledged by the conservative administration, the total is ...

Bloomberg Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto dismissed comments by his boss that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is partly to blame for higher living costs, vowing to boost farming if he wins the presidency in August. Ruto pledged to invest at least 500 billion shillings ($4.2 billion) in agriculture and small businesses over five years. That investment would include providing animal ...

  Bloomberg President Jair Bolsonaro’s proposal to help Brazilians suffering with inflation is becoming more expensive as lawmakers add more benefits to the original bill about three months before general elections. The bill’s latest price tag is 41.3 billion reais ($7.9 billion) after lawmakers included cash handouts to cab drivers and small farmers, before it was approved in a landslide ...

Bloomberg China urged Nato to abandon what it called a Cold War mentality after the military alliance said the Asian nation poses systemic challenges to security. Nato’s so-called Strategic Concept, a document on policy guidelines adopted at an alliance summit in Madrid on Wednesday, is “filled with Cold War thinking and ideological bias” and is “maliciously attacking and smearing China,” ...

  Bloomberg President Joe Biden said he told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he supported the sale of F-16 jets to modernise Turkey’s air force. “We should sell them the F-16 jets and modernize those jets as well,” Biden said at the conclusion of a Nato summit in Madrid on Thursday. “It’s not in our interest not to do ...